Little less pain in shoulders today with adjustments I mentioned. Still present though. Disappointing, but forging on til I get clear sign one way or another. Going through deadlifts mechanically.... and slow. Feels like the pause between reps is a little too long. While setting the back and getting more hamstring involvement have improved, I think I didn't reset quite enough to bring all the little things up to speed.

I've begun to mentally frame training as a form of conditioning. That is repeated exposures to a stress. No longer is it a linear progression race to do more than yesterday, but a way to adapt to more and more workload over time.

Press reps paused at shoulders. Romanian DLs are interesting. Never feel like they're doing much, but man you know you did them for the next few days. Hoping that they will also work to increase my hamstring flexibility a little.

Yeah budday, three hundy on the decline again (far more volume though). Lesser aching in shoulders, but still present. I've only worked up to a 475 x1 squat the last two weeks, so felt a deload this week was pointless. Giving a 10 week linear squat cycle a shot, with a planned week 10 of 520 x1. Was able to get a better chest angle and generate real tightness through the hips with 340. I've been drifting towards a more vertical chest angle with the heavier weights, taking away from a solid bounce. Working through this cycle should tighten form up back in the mid-400s.

The 2nd set of 8 easily felt good for a 20 rep set muscle-wise, but my lungs weren't there. This cycle will also be a good opportunity to go through the lighter squats faster and bring conditioning up a little. Was a trenta (30 oz.) ice coffee day, so while that probably didn't help, I could still stand to improve.

Press reps paused at shoulders and made sure to get a good shrug/squeeze at lock out.

Jun 19Chin Up: x8 x6 x5 x5 x4

Day 3

Jun 20Decline BP: 302.5 x5 x5 x8RDL: 205 x8 x8 x8

Anterior shoulder thing wasn't happy with today. Need to remember to do some shoulder warm up every time and see if it helps at all. Rep 8 was a fight and needed a touch of assistance. RDLs went as usual. Happy to report, days later, that the hamstring soreness was not as notable this time around.

Stood around too long waiting for seated press.... he who hestitates, blah blah. In the wise words of a trucker I spoke to on ch 19 one day after being cut off, "ya snooze, ya lose." Anyway, hit incline, but threw in a 1-2 count pause on the chest. Get more out of less weight. Was an interesting change of pace. Squats felt like absolutely textbook low bar back squats. Now if I can keep it that way at 500 lbs... yeah.

Jul 26Decline BP: 305 x5 x5 x7Deadlift: 455 x7

Tweaked decline a little more. Decided that I was pushing the bar in too straight of a path, causing a moment at my shoulder, and thus unpleasantness. Pushed the bar in more of a J-curve and it significantly reduced the pain at lockout. Pushing in a slight arc isn't as ideal for banging out reps, but still got 7 and had minimal shoulder pain today. From watching my last deadlift work set, decided I wanted to tuck my chin and see how that worked in fixing my back positioning. Definitely one of my prettier looking sets. Chin doesn't stay tucked down, but head isn't cocked back like before either. Always more things to improve on, but headed the direction I want.

Press paused at shoulders. Seems like flexibility has increased slightly from doing RDLs. Yates row kept strict and done with a slow eccentric.

Been doing broomstick pass throughs regularly in the scheme recommended by Dante Trudel. That is a set of 50 reps with complete range of motion, front to back, and inching the grip in every 10 reps or so. Unpleasant. But glad to have been doing it.

Had some shoulder issues again, especially on the right, but it was much less acute and faded relatively quickly after each set. The first rep on last squat warm up went back to the more upright position I'm trying to avoid. Fixed it going into the work sets. Still having to feel out the bar path, but once it's better trained, I'll be getting a much more powerful bounce.

Press paused at shoulders. Reps I get an explosive start on are awesome. Oh, to be consistent. Rack pull strapped and pulled from below the knees. I felt more than strong enough to get another rep or two, but low back wouldn't cooperate and stay extended, so done at six.

Aug 5Decline BP: 310 x5 x5 x7FRDL: 215 x8 x8 x8

First time in a while I essentially can't complain about shoulders after decline. Did a couple things simultaneously to rehab, so not sure which one or if the combined effect helped out. Hopefully they stay on the happy side of things. Said before I thought RDLs were helping with flexibility. Well, positive now that it has increased some. When I started, reps stopped at the bottom of the knee caps. Now I can get 3 maybe 4 inches below them, while keeping back extended.

Weighed in this morning around 210 lbs. While not nearly the same thing as a standing press, pretty cool to be moving greater than body weight over head. Still slightly shaky on the newly emphasized squat cues. Overall, got through squats quickly and things were where I want them to be.

Aug 9Decline BP: 312.5 x5 x5 x6Deadlift: 460 x8

Just shy of that 3 plate milestone. Looking forward to giving that a ride next week. No acute pain in shoulders, but there is a dull reminder to be careful still. Deadlifts went beautifully... scratch that. The bar path was beautiful and we'll leave it at that. Now to drill it into muscle memory, then work on a more explosive start.

Damn dude, you must be pretty damn beastly at 210. Didn't you post some pictures around 240 or 250? You were jacked then. Looks like you are just as strong or stronger now and 30ish pounds lighter. I may have my numbers off a little though. Good work dude.